Information providing system

Abstract

An information providing system provides information relating to dirt in a drain pan of an air conditioner. The information providing system is provided with a computer which is connected to a camera and a user terminal. The computer acquires image data of a target object imaged by the camera, identifies a dirty region in the image data, creates dirt-related information in which the dirty region is highlighted in the image data, and outputs the dirt-related information to the user terminal.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An information providing system that provides information related to contamination of a drain pan of an air conditioner, the information providing system comprising:
 a computer connected to a camera and a user terminal, 
 wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain image data of the drain pan captured by the camera; 
 convert the image data to image data from which a type of contamination is easily recognized, the type of contamination including collected contaminants or turbid water; 
 find a contaminated region in the image data in accordance with the type of contamination based on a hue value of every pixel in the image data that is converted; 
 generate contamination-related information in which the contaminated region is highlighted in accordance with the type of contamination so that the type of contamination can be identified in the image data; 
 form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the drain pan captured at different times; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the contamination chart and a threshold value of the contaminant amount indicating when to perform cleaning; 
 highlight a time point at which the contaminant amount reaches the threshold value of the contamination in the contamination chart; and 
 output the contamination-related information to the user terminal. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The information providing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain first image data of a preceding time and second image data of a subsequent time after the preceding time; 
 find the contaminated region in the second image data; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the first image data and the second image data; and 
 highlight the contaminated region in the second image data in the contamination-related information. 
 
     
     
       3. The information providing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured to highlight a type of contamination to allow for identification by adjusting saturation. 
     
     
       4. The information providing system according to  claim 1 , wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain image data of an additional subject, which differs from the drain pan, captured by a camera; 
 form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the additional subject captured at different times; 
 generate the contamination-related information including a chart that shows both of the contamination chart for the drain pan and the contamination chart for the additional subject with a common time axis; and 
 highlight the contamination chart for the drain pan in the contamination-related information. 
 
     
     
       5. An information providing system that provides information related to contamination of a drain pan of an air conditioner, the information providing system comprising:
 a computer connected to a camera and a user terminal, 
 wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain image data of the drain pan captured by the camera; 
 find a contaminated region in the image data in accordance with a type of contamination, the type of contamination including collected contaminants or turbid water; 
 generate contamination-related information in which the contaminated region is highlighted in the image data; 
 calculate a failure probability in a predetermined future period based on the image data of the drain pan; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the failure probability and in which the failure probability is highlighted when the failure probability is greater than a predetermined probability; 
 form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the drain pan captured at different times; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the contamination chart and a threshold value of the contaminant amount indicating when to perform cleaning; 
 highlight a time point at which the contaminant amount reaches the threshold value of the contamination in the contamination chart; and 
 output the contamination-related information to the user terminal. 
 
 
     
     
       6. An information providing system that provides information related to contamination of a drain pan of an air conditioner, the information providing system comprising:
 a computer connected to a camera and a user terminal, 
 wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain image data of the drain pan captured by the camera; 
 find a contaminated region in the image data in accordance with a type of contamination, the type of contamination including collected contaminants or turbid water; 
 generate contamination-related information in which the contaminated region is highlighted in the image data; 
 calculate an air pollution level in a predetermined future period based on the image data of the drain pan; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the air pollution level and in which the air pollution level is highlighted when the air pollution level is greater than an upper limit value; 
 form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the drain pan captured at different times; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the contamination chart and a threshold value of the contaminant amount indicating when to perform cleaning; 
 highlight a time point at which the contaminant amount reaches the threshold value of the contamination in the contamination chart; and 
 output the contamination-related information to the user terminal. 
 
 
     
     
       7. An information providing system that provides information related to contamination of a drain pan of an air conditioner, the information providing system comprising:
 a computer connected to a camera and a user terminal, 
 wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain image data of the drain pan captured by the camera; 
 convert the image data to image data of HSV format; 
 find a contaminated region in the image data in accordance with a type of contamination based on a hue value of every pixel in the image data that is converted, the type of contamination including collected contaminants or turbid water; 
 generate contamination-related information in which the contaminated region is highlighted in accordance with the type of contamination so that the type of contamination can be identified in the image data; 
 form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the drain pan captured at different times; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the contamination chart and a threshold value of the contaminant amount indicating when to perform cleaning; 
 highlight a time point at which the contaminant amount reaches the threshold value of the contamination in the contamination chart; and 
 output the contamination-related information to the user terminal. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The information providing system according to  claim 7 , wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain first image data of a preceding time and second image data of a subsequent time after the preceding time; 
 find the contaminated region in the second image data; 
 generate the contamination-related information including the first image data and the second image data; and 
 highlight the contaminated region in the second image data in the contamination-related information. 
 
     
     
       9. The information providing system according to  claim 8 , wherein the computer is configured to identify and highlight a type of contamination. 
     
     
       10. The information providing system according to  claim 9 , wherein the computer is configured to highlight the type of contamination to allow for identification by adjusting saturation. 
     
     
       11. The information providing system according to  claim 7 , wherein the computer is configured to:
 obtain image data of an additional subject, which differs from the drain pan, captured by a camera; 
 form a contamination chart indicating a change in a contaminant amount with respect to elapsed time based on image data of the additional subject captured at different times; 
 generate the contamination-related information including a chart that shows both of the contamination chart for the drain pan and the contamination chart for the additional subject with a common time axis; and 
 highlight the contamination chart for the drain pan in the contamination-related information.